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Topic: the archery thing (Read 9167 times)

i have decided on a recurve bow. 62" even though that is on the small end for me. 45 to 50# seem to much? have an eye on a ben pearson colt and a couple of the older bear bows. any suggestions before i make the leap?

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

I believe my Martin Mambas are a good bit shorter than that. The extra lenght in a recurve or long bow makes for a smoother shooting bow.

Kathy, can I assume you won't be hunting with it? If you will be, some states have a minimum draw weight allowed to hunt, usually around 45lbs for deer.

Kathy, if I were you, I would go to an archery range and ask them to shoot 40-50 lb bows. You will need to do this over a two week period if possible in order to get an accurate indication as to what you can handle.

Shooting traditional bows you will use muscles you never knew you had and your body will be sore the first few days or so. Its like lifting weights, you will have to go through an adjustment period, so if you can, get to the range before you purchase a bow that will be uncomfortable or underweight to shoot.

If I had to pick a draw weight for you it would be 45lbs, but you may be able to handle 50.

thanks for the answer. i don't plan to hunt with it. it''s just for fun and backup if ammo goes out of style :-D

there is a shop in town. guess i should just suck it up and drive in.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

With a traditional bow, you only need to hold the draw at anchor until you're locked in to your target, but as Mick mentioned, you are still holding all of the draw weight because there is no let off as with a compound bow.

Traditional bows are far more exciting to shoot than compounds, take lots and lots of practice but there are many rewards. Just about anyone can go to a shop, get fitted for a compound, with all the gadgets can be hitting bull's eyes in ten minutes flat.

When I want meat, I use my compound. When I want to experience the hunt and really have a grand time, I use my long bow. There is no comparison.

If you want to really enjoy yourself Kathy, get you a recurve or long bow.

I do recommend you buying from an archery dealer. They can be very helpful setting you up and getting you fitted with the correct bow.

mick, i am after the challenge of the sport, not just making the bullseye :-). this is just for fun. i enjoyed it as a kid and thought it might be a good thing to get into again. JP, if i can find a good archery place, i'll go. i think there is one in town, but as i understand it, they draw mostly hunters. i suspect the experience will be like the first truck i bought. the guy took me to the passenger side and flipped down the vanity mirror so that i could see how nice it was :evil:

i found someone else to sell me the truck. left that guy standing on the lot while i went back into the dealer and asked who wanted to sell me a truck and not a vanity mirror.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

:-x Now Jp I thought you were my partner :-D you know what Kathy is going to do with that bow protecting Cindi's ducks and chicken's unless we pay a higher wage and when I pull a recon I'll be catchin arrows now thanks :-D

Kathy, whatever you get I am sure you will enjoy. Different people get their kicks from different things and shooting recurve is a great discipline (can also be very frustrating). I am sure you will enjoy it. The important thing is not to be over-bowed.

JP is correct in his suggestion of using a dedicated archery shop to help you with your choice. Its not like buying a computer at a chain store, it has to fit you properly and the arrows have to be matched to the bow and you. If you can get someone who is knowledgeable to help you with the proper form, draw and release that should go a long way to your enjoyment

Have fun with your archery, you will find it very addictive :-D

Mick

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On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty,On a road never cross'd 'cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty.

jody, that happened a few years ago. i still buy trucks there. the next time i went to look, i joked to the sales guy that i was glad he wasn't trying to show me the vanity mirror. he asked me why i said that and i told him the story. apparently, that incident became part of the new employee training sessions. 'how not to sell trucks to women!'

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

that would be spendy regression reduction therapy. wonder how many drugs i could have prescribed with that amount that would do the same?? :-\

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

Ditto on the black widow bows. they are perfectly made, balanced and beautiful bows. I knew them when they built bows out of their converted garage just south of Nixa Mo. I grew up shooting long bows. Moved up to re curves and finally converted to compounds. As I have grown older I have enjoyed rediscovering the joys of regressing (or progressing) to natural shooting again. There is a certain feeling that goes beyond pride in being able to use a bow without *thinking* through the shot and feeling the bow become an extension of your own body, and letting the unconscious part of you take over and guide the arrow to its target.

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"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do" Benjamin Franklin

Ditto on the black widow bows. they are perfectly made, balanced and beautiful bows. I knew them when they built bows out of their converted garage just south of Nixa Mo. I grew up shooting long bows. Moved up to re curves and finally converted to compounds. As I have grown older I have enjoyed rediscovering the joys of regressing (or progressing) to natural shooting again. There is a certain feeling that goes beyond pride in being able to use a bow without *thinking* through the shot and feeling the bow become an extension of your own body, and letting the unconscious part of you take over and guide the arrow to its target.

You got that right my friend, traditional archery is zen where compound shooting is fun but no spiritual feat for sure.

62" 45# bow with 28" arrows. the bow was a little heavy for me they said, but the next down i over drew. to compensate, they suggested the shorter arrows until i have more strength (ya right).

since they recommended the 62 inch bow, i went ahead and bought the used ben pearson colt that i had been looking at. sure is smooth, but i think i will go back to the shop and invest in some good gloves :-) they had some neat stuff, but i'll play with this before i get crazy on new bows and other junk. a 60 dollar bow i can afford. the 400 dollar on they wanted to sell me was a little steep!

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

we played with some lengths. they do custom sizing, but they also had some nice carbon practice arrows that didn't break the bank. i'll play with those for awhile and see how this goes.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

I like the grace of a recurve or the oddness of a Japanese longbow - haven't shot the japanese bow myself though.I have to admit I'm with Mick and JP on the compound though -after a couple weeks with a compound I couldn't understand why I didn't get one sooner. I may get a crossbow sometime though - they're allowed for general gun season around here.having said that I haven't shot a bow or hunted in a very good stretch of years.

The last time I'd done any archery was between 25 and 30 years ago. Last week I had the opportunity to pick up a Barnett compound crossbow. It's a 150# RC-300 with a red dot sight. Well for $40 I don't figure I got hurt much. While it's not going to be anything like shooting the 50# recurve I used to shoot, it does open up some hunting opportunities I was unwilling to attempt with a firearm. My FIL has some property just a few hundred yards outside of the city limits with houses nearby. He's often had a deer problem in the garden there and wanted me to hunt it, but I was always unwilling to discharge a rifle or shotgun so close to people and livestock. This should be the way around that. Besides, It'd take me several months to get the shooting shoulder back in shape to make an accurate shot offhand.

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The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.- Marcus Aurelius -

Well, I am trying to get ready for the World Masters Games to be held in Sydney, Australia in October. A lot are coming from all over the world so I am really looking forward to it. I am shooting in the 60-70 yrs division and shooting all disciplines. I have a Darton Tundra 60lb compound that I am shooting at 52lb.. my shoulder wont cope with any more than that. I shot in the last one held in Melbourne in 2002 and that was a real buzz.

I am shooting every day now and trying to get my groups down to a respectable size. I leave for Sydney on the 10-1, have a 2 day drive and then a week of full on practice with my mate Allan in the clubs around Sydney

Wish me a steady hand and a good release :-D

Mick

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On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty,On a road never cross'd 'cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty.

Good luck SlickMick and hope your arrow is true as they say. You must have some young eyes to shoot that kind of distance. I have not tried to shoot over 40 yards for quite a few years now. Some do your type of shooting with those crazy set ups of 80 and 90 lbs of draw. Now I am a pretty healthy bow shooter with mine limbed out at 70 lbs but them guys are nuts with anymore. As for Kathy. It is nice to see that more woman are taking enjoyment in the archery shooting. You do not have to hunt to enjoy and many woman pick up the finesse of shooting the traditional set ups quicker that most men. Have fun!

good luck SlickMick. that sounds like fun. i think i had my fill of competition with the horses, but who knows.....

sparky, i have been having fun. have not spent as much time doing it as i would have liked, but after this month things should quiet down. at the moment, even the broad side of my barn is safe from my aim.

vibe, i am finding that it satisfies some of my shooting itch. i don't have to worry about checking around for stray folks before i put holes in things.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

Thanks guys. I am really looking forward to it. I have made so many friends in the archery world since I started shooting in tournaments.. people from all over the world and it is always so wonderful to catch up with them again

Mick

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On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty,On a road never cross'd 'cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty.

thanks for the answer. i don't plan to hunt with it. it''s just for fun and backup if ammo goes out of style :-D

Oh Kathy, you still crack me up, you gun totin' mamma!!! I remember reading your post about you're thinkin' that you're gonna get into archery. Good for you girl, you go!!! My youngest Daughter knows how to shoot a bow, her girlfriend taught her many years ago here on our property. They got pretty good at it, smiling. They had a great target that they had (nope, not guys), it was a big hunk of some kind of plywood or something that they painted white. I yearned to learn how. But I saw it to be a difficult thing, and that was when I had that bad rotator cuff, so I daren't. I think when we make that great move, that I am definitely going to be looking into learning to shoot a bow. I think it would be the most funnest thing, smiling. So, girl, get going, get good, and maybe you just would never need to use a noisey ol' gun anymore. Have that most awesome day, to love and live with the best of health. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

Way to go Mick. I have not seen shots like those distances since it was on TV. Good luck the next two shoots. I think the guy on TV was Byron something. Of coarse he had to show his stuff as his wife through up wood disc from a moving auto out the sun roof that he shot. The best trick shots were the balloons he shot fastened to a bail of straw that he had to deflect the shafts off two angled sheets of plywood before it hit the balloons from around 100yds. If I could train my arrows to bounce off the trees like that, when I am hunting, the freezer would be full of venison every year with out a dought. :-D

Today was the IFAA field shoot ... all done in open ground distances from 20 feet to 80 yards and blowing a gale. Wind gusts to about 70 km/hr and impossible to hold on the shot. Most difficult field shoot that I have been in. Nothing difficult in the 28 targets.. just the wind.

Wonder how it will be tomorrow

Mick

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On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty,On a road never cross'd 'cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty.

If you practice instinctive shooting you don't need to hold it at all, you just keep your eye on the target and shoot when you get to full draw. After a while you're just on. Like throwing a ball. As far as pull, I find that what is difficult at first rapidly gets easy with exercise and practice. After you get used to a harder pull, it's hard to be accurate with a lighter pull. The lack of tension seems to make it hard for me to aim...

back in the 70's when i lived in Wisconsin I went to a outdoor show. there was a vender that made custom stick bows. they had a competition letting spectaters try to pull a 100+ plus bamboo stick bow. It had to be pulled to full draw and held for 3 seconds. Well alot of big bulked up guys tryed. They would hold it up at 45 deg and yank, spin and grunt. The guy that won was just a normal looking guy and he held it straight out in front of him and in a very smooth motion pulled and held. They moral of this story is pumping iron doesn't build the proper muscles.

i don't even know how you can compete in the wind! a steady wind might be manageable, but gusts suck.

45# is just right i think. i have had some fun with it, but time has gotten away from me. we also have had some wind issues. i need to set up in a better place, but at this time of the year, no place is wind free. it's going to be one of those years......

as for the building muscle, the draw does not seem to be a problem. i do some weight lifting, but for toning, not bulk :-D that, riding, and farm work, seem to have given me enough strength for this hobby.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

i do some weight lifting, but for toning, not bulk :-D that, riding, and farm work, seem to have given me enough strength for this hobby.

Farm girls are tough gals. Picture the amount of lifting stuff you do, the amount that you use your arms for those things, yep, you should have enough strength from your work as a farm girl throughout your life for that hobby, me too, think I could outwrestle any man in an arm wrestle, providing his arms were the same length as mine, smiling, and a leg wrestle, they wouldn't have a chance!!! :shock: :) :) I have extremely strong legs from years of digging shovels in the dirt. Have that great, most awesome day, health. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Still, as mentioned, the muscles you use for a bow seem to be muscles you don't use for much of anything else...

The old long bows in England used to be 150 to 200 pounds. It's amazing what a human can do with practice...

I concur. A very good friend of mine used to own an archery shop. Some of the biggest, baddest musclemen that entered the shop were demoralized when they couldn't draw what the experienced shooters were pulling. There are definitely muscles not ordinarily used when drawing a bow. Particularly, a traditional bow.